Senior IOC member Gian Franco Kasper has stood by his comments about corruption in the financing of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Kasper claims that one third of the spending for the Sochi Games disappeared due to corruption, with contracts awarded to a "construction mafia" of businessmen with close ties to the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin.

The long-time president of the International Ski Federation told The Associated Press the remarks he made in a television interview with Swiss broadcaster SRF are based on a common perception in Russia.

"I didn't say anything which I wouldn't have said two years ago," Kasper told the AP on Friday.